


Pine's

by SatanicAsch



Series: Branwen's Universe [2]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Ace Ruby, Author is trans, Companion piece to Branwen's centered around Oscar, I was like, Imprinting my personal feelings at that age to Oscar, Missing Scene, Multi, Read Tags on Branwen's too plz ;;, Trans FtM Oscar, Trans Male Character, and then I said, as part of a greater whole, big frown, but also a wizard so you cant be, but at least you have friendship and companionship, covers Oscar's POV thru v4/5/6 per chapter, getting comfy with everyone, i actually dont care i just wanna do it, if i do this headcanon that that adds another layer to my already long slow fic, oscar connecting and bonding with people, so p short, so you have to understand you cant have, wait, what you want in life, when ur a teenager and want to be one
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:46:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27140611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SatanicAsch/pseuds/SatanicAsch
Summary: Companion piece to Branwen's. I do not know how readable it is without context from parent fic. Read tags. Missing Scenes from Oscar's POV in Branwen's. Takes direct context from Branwen's..Oscar Pine has a lot on his plate. The talking wizard in his head adds another heaping slop on top of it all.
Relationships: Jaune Arc & Oscar Pine, Oscar Pine & Everyone, Oscar Pine & Ruby Rose, Oscar Pine & Team RWBY, Ozma & Oscar Pine, Ozpin & Oscar Pine
Series: Branwen's Universe [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1980205
Comments: 4
Kudos: 38





	1. Chapter One : The First Step.

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to write a trans Oscar fic. I wanted to include it in Branwen's but didn't have enough space in the plot, but then I remembered. Series exist. Also unbeta'd as always. How do you even get a beta reader? 
> 
> Welcome to the first child fic spawned off of Branwen's! I will be doing more of these. Including a Yang one I've started and a more in-depth Qrow/Summer - Taiyang/Raven Beacon days fic. 
> 
> This won't be as long as Branwen's. Each chapter is going to skim along the volume (starting with 4) and the master fic with additional dialogue and Oscar's interactions with everyone as he grows to trust and confide in them. Shorter chapter length to preserve my sanity also ;v; Think "missing scenes".

.

.

.

Oscar Pine works hard. He tends to all the land on his aunt’s farm. He feeds the animals and tills the fields. Sure, rubbing aloe on his sunburns is a daily evening ritual, but it’s not too bad.

He has a natural affinity for nature that isn’t often seen in people today. 

And yeah, his aunt could take care of the land on her own. She did for the period of time after her husband died and before she spirited him away to live with her. A strong-willed woman of iron. He loves her so. It’s only logical that Oscar would want to help. 

His day to day now is stable. He has a bed to sleep in. Fresh food on the table. His aunt even takes him to see a specialty doctor, an eight hour drive to the city and that's when traffic laws are ignored. Oscar has everything he wanted that his parents never would have given him. 

But even now, Oscar still wakes up in a cold sweat. Nightmares and past memories plagued him. He’s been with his aunt for two years and he still. Can’t. Sleep. 

That morning, he felt particularly off-kilter. This night terror was different then his usual. It wasn’t cold tile floors or flashes of leather. It was like a starburst of green and red behind his eyes. Like he was dying as the orange-red light consumed his everything. Not the dreams normally haunted him. 

The only thing he can do is brush it off and get started on his morning.

Oscar commits to his normal routine. Back-breaking work that he was sure was causing long term damage to his spine. It’s spring now and while the weather still has a delightful breeze, the sun still burns his cheeks. 

His aunt isn’t up yet. She never gets up as early as him. That’s fine by him. The earlier he finishes, the sooner he can relax and read. 

…But what was that dream all about? It was so bright. Vibrant colors he'd never seen before pressing against the back of his eyes…

The water bucket overfills. Keep it together, Pine. 

.

Another week goes by before he gets a second dream. And that’s truly what it is. A pleasant dream. Like the last time, all he can remember is colors. Dark red, purple, and blue mashed together in a grey space. He thinks he remembers something brown like coffee. 

Then a vivid red, chilled white, warm black, and fiery yellow image. The colors clustered together that gave him a light feeling in his chest. Humor, pride, hope. 

Maybe he’s been reading too many fairy tales lately. 

.

Hand on cheek, Oscar watches as the countryside shifts to the city. His elbow pressed into the truck door and slipping off occasionally when his aunt drove over a bump.

Mistral was a busy city. Couples milled the streets buying trinkets, vendors yelled about their prices in constant competition while buyers looked back and forth for the best deal. It was a fun change of pace. He only got to see the city about every six months when his supply of medication at home wore thin. 

He was so lucky his doctor understood their distance situation and trusted them. He was so lucky to even be here.

Dr. Clauda was a sweet woman. Small and frail looking, a stark contrast to his aunt.

“Ah, Mr. Pine!”, She greeted, escorting out her last patient and walking over to him. Placing a tender hand on his shoulder. “I see you’ve managed a clean shirt this time too!”

“I made sure he cleaned up.”, His aunt added, a sweet sort of mocking. 

“I’m just gonna get dirty again when I go home.”, He pouts, crossing his arms and ducking his head. 

“Worry not. This is very common behaviour for young men. I know my son hated showers from age thirteen to seventeen. Almost a phobia!”, Ms. Clauda smiles. “Come, Oscar. Let’s head into the exam room.” 

The process is the same as always. “Your weight is perfect- Oh you’ve put on much more muscle since I saw you last!”, The doctor looks him over while his aunt brags about how he helps in the fields, that he can finally lift sacks of grain with ease.

They go over his blood tests, scan through the ones he’s taken and mailed from home. “I heard they have machines in Atlas that let you know the results of a test immediately. I can only hope after all this mess blows over we can get that sort of thing here.”

It’s not an extremely invasive visit. Like always, she reminds his aunt and him about injection safety, things to look out for. But he’s been fine thus far. 

“And are you doing alright, Oscar? Physically as well as mentally?” 

He almost mentions the dreams. They’re not hurting him or bothering him. If anything, they can be catalogued under ‘distraction’. So he says nothing. It’s not important. 

“I’m okay. Never better, actually.”, He gives a sweet smile. 

They leave the office with a warm goodbye and a slip of paper for his prescription. The old pharmacy he went too closed down last month, so they had to find the new one before leaving Mistral. 

“It should be here somewhere…”, His aunt has her hand on her chin, looking at the street signs. 

“I think it’s this way?”, Oscar points down an alleyway. It has no markings. But he feels like that’s the way to go.

Surely enough, “MISTRAL SPECIALTY PHARMACY, 110 Years of Service!”, is right there. Where he knew it was…

Why did he know that? 

They’re cheaper than the old place, much to his aunt’s surprise and subsequent happiness. It’s another thirty minute wait for the pharmacist to gather six-months worth of weekly treatments and needles. Quick and painless. 

When all of his business is done, his aunt goes and buys fish they can’t catch in their corner of the world plus other produce they don’t grow on the farm from the vendors. Then it’s back into the truck for their long ride home. 

It’s dark by the time they arrive. He’d have twice the work to do in the morning, leaving the land unattended for a full day. Doesn’t matter. He likes doing it. 

.

Why does he feel like he doesn’t belong to himself anymore? Like he’s sitting outside of his mind. Oscar spends the entire day after the visit into town with an itch under his skin. 

He’d been doing so good too… 

The feeling… It’s _different_. Different from the normal feelings of doubt and discomfort.

Different like his new dreams. 

Oscar throws himself into his work. Spends the entire day pulling weeds, taking twice the amount of grain he usually does in a day. His arms burn like hell from their old-fashioned mill. The animals get nervous from his stomping around. 

He’s done a week's worth of work in about eight hours. 

If his aunt notices something off, she doesn’t mention it. But she does make sure there’s a glass of water every time he turns a corner. 

His body says ‘no more’ after cultivating the entire potato field. His stomach turns with nausea. He’s going to end up passing out in the dirt at this rate and his aunt would never let him out by himself again. 

Fork over shoulder, he drags his way into the main barn. Neatly placing it against the wall despite how tired he was. Oscar’s reflection catches his eye. 

Is this a side effect of his medication? Did the pharmacy have something different than his old one…? 

His face looks the same as it’s been...Why does it feel so foreign… 

He leans into the mirror.

_“Hello! I’m Professor Ozpin.”_

.

“I’m crazy.”, Oscar mutters to himself. And apparently the ancient being in his head. “I’m crazy, I’m crazy, I’m crazy…” 

“ _I think you’re being a bit harsh._ ”, The voice _laughs_ . Like it’s all a _joke_ . _“I didn’t intend it that way._ ” 

Stop. Stop. Stopstopstop.

“ _Oscar. Calm down._ ”

“I CAN’T!”, He yells. The chickens startle and run away from him. Hands gripped tightly into his hair, pulling painfully. 

_“You can. Take a deep breath, there you go- Now exhale._ ”, Ozpin (Professor Ozpin. His delusion was a teacher.) “ _Moving on from that. Breath again_.”

He listens. Why does he _LISTEN_? 

“ _I’m not here to harm you, Oscar. Could you relax your hands? You’re hurting yourself._ ” 

Oscar drops his hands, thudding his head back against the coup. “I’m delusional.” 

“ _If only it was that simple._ _I’m very real. Though, I don’t have too much to prove that to you at the moment._ ” 

“I’m gonna have to tell my aunt I’m _crazy-_ ” 

“ _-And I understand what you are going through. To an extent._ ”, The voice is consoling him. Consoling him from his own insanity. “ _If we could make our way to Haven, there is a man that should be there-”_

“-They’re going to take me off my medication and I’m going to have to suffer _more_ -”, Oscar sniffles, ducking his head between his knees. 

“ _..._ ”, Ozpin doesn’t know quite what to do. He’s never had a partner host as young as this one. Being as minimally invasive as possible, he can garner this child is only fourteen. With circumstances no other of his lives has had. Though, Oz’s not completely useless. Many students have confided in him with similar situations. And naturally, he helped in any way he could.

But he also needs to get the both of them to Haven quickly. There is a short span of time he has to build trust with this child. Who was already damaged, weary, and wary. 

The other students will help. People his age, he’s sure they’ll be a necessary support for Oscar. 

“ _During several lives of mine, I was also a farmer_.”, He starts. 

“...So?”, Oscar wipes his nose on his pant leg. His eyes felt puffy and heavy. 

“ _Glad to see the art of it is still the same now as thousands of years ago._ ” 

“...Are you making fun of me?”

_“Quite the opposite. I admire the ability to use the tried and true methods of time. Rather than the less reliable and ever-changing technology.”_

“...It’s expensive to get those kinds of machines. They only have that kind of stuff in Mantle and Atlas. They’re shut off from us anyways.” 

“ _If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it._ ”, This was immediate progress. Oscar was engaging with him, rather than just refuting his existence. “ _Have you been a farmhand for long?_ ” 

“Two years. Since moving here. My aunt trained me.” 

He can’t go much further than asking that. Ozpin can see the memories before that grow dark and awful. 

“ _You’re very talented with nature._ ” 

“Everyone tells me that...”, Oscar wants to go to bed. To wake up and this all goes away with the rising sun.

“ _Because it’s clear to see you are a natural_.” 

“The voice in my head is complimenting me. I’m a narcissist now too.”

_“Now now. None of that. I can’t assure you at this moment but as stated, I am very real. I will attempt to prove it to you in time. For now, I would like to get to know you.”_

“I just went to the doctor. I can’t make it back for another six months.”, His eyes water again. “Gas is so expensive. Train tickets are too...” 

“ _There’s no need for that. You are perfectly well, Oscar. There is nothing wrong with you.”_

“Just… Shut up.”

He gets up from the floor, slashes his face with some cool water from a waiting barrel and promptly goes to shut himself in his room. 

.

“ _You’re going to regret picking things up like that when you get older._ ”

“I’ll be fine.”, Oscar hisses, hefting a bag of rice on top of another. They’ll sell it off when that time of year comes around. Until then, into the storage shed it went. 

.

“ _Oh, I wish I had known that trick back in the day._ ”, Oscar had become somewhat used to Ozpin’s constant commentary during his day to day. A week had flown by with no silence from his mental partner. Soul-sharer. Eugh. 

.

_“When you do inevitably listen to me-”_ , Ozpin starts. 

“Never.”, Oscar attempts to finish.

_“-I think you’ll enjoy the company of the students that I’m sure are with Qrow Branwen.”_

“That’s a fake person.”, He wishes his delusion wasn’t such a tryhard at getting him to believe in it. “Made up.”

_“-I believe you remember them as colors from your dreams. Which would be fragments of my memory.”_

“That’s stupid.” 

“ _Ms. Rose in particular. You have a similar affection for literature and are about the same age. She’s the bright red one, from your dreams.”_ , Ozpin just keeps talking. “ _Though, Ms. Belladonna also quite enjoys books. Her tastes stray to a more mature side of things… I do hope they’re safe._ ” 

“They’re not real.” 

“ _They’re real. In time, you will know._ ”

.

“ _So. Oscar, yes_?” 

“What?”, He was sowing seeds today. White teas had been fetching a good price during market season. Luckily their order of _Camellia Sinensis_ has arrived in time for them to plant the bush and have it bud by that part of the year. He’s never worked with tea plants before. 

“ _Like Oscara, friend or god to deer?_ ” 

“...Yeah.”

“ _A favorite legend of mine. Though, quite a tragic end for him_.” 

“I liked how the name sounded.”, Oscar tosses fertilizer over the planted seeds. 

“ _What a shocking coincidence, given my name being very close to yours_.”

“So I cooked you up to make myself be more of a real boy. Cool.”

As time went by, Oscar shifted from panicky to bitter quickly. It was a rapid metronome of emotions to handle. It was hard to adjust to the mood swings of a young teenager. But, if there was one thing Ozpin had it was patience. Now if only he had time. Time to assure Oscar of what it meant to be a piece of Ozma. 

But he didn’t. 

“... _You are real, in every sense. Do not belittle yourself_.”

“Not real. Not real.”, Oscar soothed himself. It was a common chant for him when everything felt like too much. 

.

**“Oscar! Supper’s almost ready!”**

.

Packing sucks.

He can’t fit all of his books into the backpack he found. He’ll have to leave them behind…

...Which really doesn’t matter. Because he’s going to end up proving to himself that he’s crazy and just needs to go home and tell his aunt. Or at the very least, he could be in Mistral and can go to his doctor himself. Maybe they’ll commit him. 

This really sucks.

_“You know, for one who enjoys fiction and fairy tales as much as you do, you’re very much a skeptic for these things in real life.”_

“That’s because the books are books for a reason.”, But his gut tells him to do this. It’s one of the strongest feelings he’s ever had about something. 

He’s afraid it all might be true. That he’s not going to get to turn around and come back to the farm. That he’ll be wrapped up in something bigger than Oscar feels he is. 

“ _I wrote a book about us in one of my lives. Well about the reincarnation process. ‘The Man with Two Souls’, Ms. Belladonna has a copy of it._ ” 

“You said you think these people are with this Qrow guy.”, Oscar slips a card of Lien into his pocket. He hopes it has money on it. “How do you know the students are with him?” 

“ _Well, if they aren’t, it’s a best seller at most bookstores. A timeless classic, they call it._ ” 

“Wow. My brain is advertising it’s book to me.”, Now, does he _need_ six cans of beans, or does he _want_ six cans of beans? 

“ _It’s just that I’m quite proud of it. Writing is not as easy as it seems._ ” 

It’s five in the morning. His bag is packed. He has so much time to write a letter to his aunt before he goes. 

There’s no way he could talk to her about this. About leaving. About Ozpin. 

“Does this soul-ability come with the power of perfect running-away-from-home letter writing skills, Mr. Best Selling Author?”

_“Very funny. And perhaps assure her that you aren’t leaving out of malice or dissatisfaction? I understand how hard this must be. But we do have to be vague. It’ll keep her safe.”_

“...Okay.” 

He starts writing. Rambling with his pencil about how much he loves and appreciates her. How this isn’t her fault and that he’s sorry he has to go. He’s not even sure if any of this will turn out to be real and he can turn around, come home after a wasted trip to Mistral. 

The sinking feeling tells him to write as final as possible. This is the hardest thing he’s ever had to do.

It’s six am now, the sky is grey. It’s going to rain and he has to walk forty-five miles to the train station. 

This really, really sucks. 

_“I did say pack an umbrella.”_

“Shut up.”

.

He makes the walk in one day. It’s nighttime now, still pouring rain but the station is in the distance. 

...And of course he doesn’t have enough money for the ticket. 

But a giant man punches a ticket out of the machine for him so it’s cool. Chill. His head-resident apparently knows him. Not in a friendly way.

...What the hell is going on with his life.

.

.

.

Oscar has never been to this side of Mistral before. This part of the city is dark and seedy. People look at him walking down the alley like he was branded. Branded with a ‘does not fit here’ mark right on his forehead. 

But his mental professor says this other dude would be here. So, he’s here. 

Walking down a shady street only with bars and weapons shops at fourteen-years old. His aunt would probably cry.

Oscar’s getting closer to his destination. He can feel it. A tether. Anxiety pounds in his chest. This is it. This proves whether he's crazy or he’s never going back home again. 

The door is in front of him. His hand hesitates but his mind says go. “ _It’s alright. You’ll be okay._ ”, Ozpin soothes. So he opens the door.

The bar isn’t ugly. Standard Mistral in the wooden décor. Orange lights cast it in a warm glow. There’s one man at the counter, a few empty glass around him. His back to the door. All Oscar can see is a hint of greying hair and the red cape on that man’s back. 

The dark red blur from his dreams. He knows this person. 

“E-excuse me?”, He walks up, hands behind his back. 

The man turns, garnet colored eyes dyed by the rich orange light look down at him. His expression is one of visible confusion. 

“You know, I don’t think they allow kids in here, pipsqueak.”, He’s heard this voice before. Gravelly from years of drinking to excess. But not hostile.

“A _sk for my cane back. It’s there, on his hip. He’ll know what it means._ ”, Ozpin gives him a little mental shove. 

“...Shut up. I’m getting there.”, Oscar shifts his feet nervously. Qrow’s gaze is scrutinizing. “Uh… I-I’m supposed to tell you… I’d like my cane back?” 

Qrow’s eyes widen for a split second, before he nods. Like he’d been expecting this. 

Oh, he’s really tall. Oscar doesn’t remember having to stare up quite this high in his dream-memories. 

“It’s good to see you again, Oz.”, Qrow smiles and tosses Oscar his cane. 

“ _I told you I was real.”_ , Ozpin’s voice has a smug lilt to it. “ _You’re not crazy, Oscar._ ”

“Is this really an ‘I told you so” moment?”, He laughs, a small distant thing. There is no going back from this, is there? This is his life now. 

Oscar accidentally pressed the trigger and the object thrown to him extends into a full cane. Oops. 

He’d have to read that book. 

“Private conversation?”, Qrow asks, sitting back down at the bar, patting the seat next to him. 

_“He really shouldn’t be letting you sit up there, you’re very much underage. Especially not with as many glasses as he’s had.”_

“Ozpin says I shouldn’t sit up at the bar. And that you’ve had a lot to drink.” 

“What are you, like fifteen? Ruby and Yang sit up at the bar with me all the time. Don’t be old fashioned.”, Qrow snorts, pouring himself another glass. Got tired of asking for more at one point so he just bought a bottle. 

“Fourteen, actually.”, Oscar corrects, shoulders raised in anxiety as he pulls himself onto the bar stool. Collapsing the cane and shoving it into his pocket. 

“God damn, fourteen. Oz, have you ever had a reincarnate this tiny?” 

“ _No._ ” 

“He says no.”, He rubs his arm in a bashful motion. The youngest one, huh?

“I’m sure ol’ Oz and I have a lot to talk about. Might as well bring the kiddos up to speed at the same time.”, Qrow downs his drink in one go. Oscar is pretty sure that’s a bad thing to do. Even on the rare nights his aunt drank, she would nurse the same glass for hours. Until the ice melted. “So, how you doin’, kiddo? Taking all this alright?” 

Qrow may be gruff, bad with words, a total drunk, also incredibly irresponsible- Getting off track, but he was at least alright with kids. Taiyang would argue that fact. Whatever. He’s just jealous the girls think he’s cooler.

“Um… Well I-I was pretty convinced I was insane until a moment ago so-”

“Get used to the feeling. We’re all pretty fucked up around here.”, Another drink poured. Held up in cheers. A barmaid walks over and glares at Qrow, while placing a glass of water in front of Oscar. He offers a small smile, and the woman returns it. 

“ _I hope he’s counting. Otherwise this evening will get a little messy._ ” 

“At least I know I’m not totally crazy…”

“ _Can you ask just how much he’s told to the students? And who he’s with, while we’re at it?_ ” 

“Um. Ozpin asked how much did you tell the students? And if you’re traveling alone or not?” 

“Oh. yeah, I pretty much told them everything. We’re getting ready to protect Haven from an assault. I’ve got the rest of team JNPR with me… Oh… Uh. Pyrrha Nikos didn’t make it out of the fall… Cinder got her too. Ruby chased her off with you-know-what.” 

A wave of sorrow crashes over him. He almost knocks his glass off the table. There's flashes of a fall-colored girl, her bright red hair flowing in the wind as she smiles between other people her age. Two boys and a girl. 

“I have the kiddo- Ruby with me too.” 

_“...At least she is safe…”_

“I’m not gonna lie. We have a lot of shit to go over. For now I just want to be happy you fuckin’ found me.”, Oof. Another glass. “Rough journey, kid?”

“N-no. It was a long walk to the train station. But it was kind of cool.”

Qrow snorts again, suddenly patting his head. Oscar ducks under the unforeseen affection. But he’s not scared like he usually would be. It’s nice. “You did good getting here.” 

Then the leg on Qrow’s chair snaps under him, sending the man plummeting into the wood flooring. “Ugh.”

_“...Let’s hope he’s staying close by.”_

.

.

.

  
  



	2. Chapter Two : The Burden.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> unbeta'd and like 90% unedited. I'm tired, y'all. 
> 
> .
> 
> He hates it when Oz is right. Week three and he’s in the bathroom, running his head under cold water in the sink and taking deep gasping breaths. Jaune’s probably freaked out that Oscar suddenly ran out of the dojo without a word and up the stairs after dissociating on the floor for a minute. Courtesy of acute suffocation and the complete realization he can’t breathe.
> 
> .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter two lets goooooooooooooooooo. Like the summary said, my eyes are too tired to edit properly so I'm sure I'll come fix everything in a couple of days. Branwen's Ch12 will come out in a couple more days. 
> 
> Volume Five is gonna be split into two chapters, being the largest span of time. IE, this chapter goes up to Ch5 of Branwen's. Also a note that this will always be updated behind the timeline of Branwen's. So after I upload Ch3, which will finish of the Volume 5 show content, we won't get another chapter until after Branwen's finishes Volume 6 show au content. 
> 
> Anyway, catch me imprinting the stupid shit I did as a kid on Oscar. So TW for Unsafe Binding Practices.

Oscar barely manages to balance Qrow around his shoulders. He was short by anyone's standards. No growth spurts had blessed him with a worthwhile height, despite his aunt’s assurances that it would happen in time. Nope. God said “you’re going to be five feet tall and that’s that.” 

Didn’t help that Qrow was also extremely tall.

So yeah, Oscar is pretty sure he’s skinned Qrow’s knees dragging him like this. 

Guess he shouldn’t have gotten kicked out of the bar, then. If he wanted to go home undamaged. 

“ _ Hopefully he can manage a second wind. Considering we still have no idea where we’re going. _ ”, Ozpin throws out. While the comedy is all there, he really wouldn’t like to get arrested before even getting Qrow home. A child hauling around a very drunk grown man was bound to draw some eyes. 

Oscar didn’t look at least a little bit like Qrow to pass it off as taking a family member home. Ruby would have been ideal here. But no. Just a complete stranger of a boy and an intoxicated adult man. 

“ _ Let’s take a moment to see if we can get an address. _ ”, Oz nudges Oscar to look down a secluded alleyway. “ _ Lest we have to go knocking on every door in Mistral. _ ” 

“Oh. Because this couldn’t get  _ any _ weirder and look  _ any _ worse.”, Oscar listens anyways, changing his hold and hauling Qrow like a dummy. Arms under his, walking backwards in a drag. He’s given up on comfort for the guy. This was now punishment. 

“I have no idea why I thought this would be a cool adventure full of destiny stuff. All I’ve done is run away from home, get rained on, and dragged an old drunk dude into an alley!”

“ _ In my defense, I had no idea he would be this bad. _ ” 

“You have to know it’s bad when you told me to go to a bar on any random day to find him.”

“ _ You’ve got me there. _ ”

He props Qrow against the wall, then promptly slides down the adjacent wall and thuds his head into the wall. 

“Uughhhhhhhh”

“ _ You’ve banged your head against the wall quite a few times since I’ve met you. Perhaps a bad habit? Just maybe? _ ”

“Shut up, dude.”, He was starting to get a headache. 

“ _ I hope the other students don’t hear you talking to me like that. I’ll lose their respect. _ ”

“You had respect?”, Oscar half-jokes. Rubbing his face with his hands. Eugh, his gloves smelt like booze. 

“ _ Shocking, I know. Now, how about we try to shake some intel out of Mr. Branwen? _ ”

“Like actually shake or should I not hit him? I don’t want to hit him… Yet?”, Oscar can’t believe it’s been barely a full day since he left home. He already feels older. Like he’s been in the city for ages. 

“ _ A gentle jostle to start. If that doesn’t work, I saw a bucket of standing water earlier. We can grab that. _ ” 

Oscar grabs Qrow’s shoulder, pushing him lightly. “Um. Qrow? Where do you live?” 

Nothing but a small groan. So Oscar shakes harder. “Come on, man. I need your address so we can get you home.”

“...What....?”, Qrow slurs, obviously still very under the influence.

“ _ Well, it’s a start. May you remind him that Ms. Rose will very likely not be happy to have to spend all night looking for her uncle? That we best be getting him home so as to not invoke her ire?” _

“Ozpin says Ruby Rose is gonna get mad at you if you stay out all night.”, Yeah, he wasn’t gonna quote directly what Oz said. 

“-Oh shit. The kiddos-”, Qrow raked a hand through his hair. Then pushed himself up off the wall. Not without stumbling of course, but Oscar had his arms out just in case. “Wait. I have Oz now. We’re not hopeless in this anymore!”, He yelled, pumping his arms up. Like yelled yelled. Someone’s lights turned on. 

“ _ That’s a grim outlook. _ ”

“Y-yeah? Maybe we should keep our voices down though…”, Oscar watches as more people’s patio lights click on. Oh man. They needed to leave. 

“Let’s go meet my kids, pipsqueak Oz.”, Suddenly Qrow was staggering his way down the street. At least appearing to have some destination in mind. Damn, he was fast for a man that couldn't walk on his own a moment ago.

“ _ If the police come, you do not know this man. We can wait by the station for Ms. Rose to collect her uncle. _ ” 

“Got it.”, He’s just so tired. 

Turns out, Qrow’s place wasn’t that far. A nice house in a residential district with cool dragon statues out front. Dragon statues that Qrow was yelling at, referring to them as ‘Tai’ and making a convincing case that these statues should let him bring ‘the girls’ out on a real Grimm hunt with him. 

Oscar needed a bed, like, three hours ago. 

But then the crippling curse of social anxiety decides to act up. How do you go about asking people for a place to stay when your only communicator and connection to them was an inebriated guy and the former teacher wizard in your head? 

“ _ How about you go ahead and knock? They’re not villains, Oscar. They’re kind individuals. _ ” 

Oscar looks back at Qrow, who was still shouting at the statue. He walks up to the door, giving a light knock. 

It takes a second and he can hear shuffling inside. Then the door cracks open, a little wider when the blond boy inside realizes he has to look down to see who's there. There's two other people standing in the background. 

“Can I help you…?”, Boy at the door looks confused.

“ _ This is Jaune Arc, a talented swordsman. Though given the circumstances, you should probably ask for Ms. Rose to come collect her guardian. _ ” 

“Uh. Um- Is there a Ruby Rose here?”

Their eyes all harden at once, bodies tense and ready to attack. Oh God, you lied! They’re gonna kill me! 

“Why?”, The girl in the background growls out. Oscar freezes.

“ _...I did not expect them to be this on edge. _ ”, Ozpin wonders why. They hadn’t gotten a lot of intel out of Qrow before he became uselessly intoxicated. 

Qrow, who notices the door is open, makes his way over. “I found him!”, he laughs, like it's a particularly funny joke and starts a less than graceful entrance into his house. 

“I-I think her uncle could use some help?”, Oscar manages, while Qrow rambles insanely about how he found him. Untrue. They found Qrow. He had the stolen train ticket to prove it. 

“WHAT IS GOING ON DOWN THERE?!”, A high-pitched voice, followed by the stomping of boots echoes down the stairs. 

Oscar freezes. What should he do? Wave? Smile? Apologize? All three? 

“ _ Calm down, Oscar. You’ll be alright _ .”

“-Can’t a girl read her comics in peace!?”, Ruby Rose stamps her away down to the living room. Greeted by the sorry sight of her uncle giggling like a child on the couch. Her annoyance immediately turns to resigned disappointment. “...Uncle Qrow, did you get drunk again?” 

So this was a regular occurrence then? Oof. 

“ _ Do cut him some slack. He’s an upstanding man… Though his coping mechanisms are, understandably, very frustrating. _ ” 

He watches the short exchange between family. Oscar wonders what led Qrow to be like this. 

His gaze catches with Ruby’s. He didn’t really see her before, focused on the dangerous way Qrow teetered on the short couch. 

“Wow… You have silver eyes.”, Oscar has no idea why those words exit his mouth. It’s just the first thing he notices about her. They’re very bright. Ozpin ripples with amusement in the back of his mind. 

“Uh… Who are you?”, Oh yeah. He doesn’t actually know these people. He just feels like he knows them. 

How do you explain the single identity of someone who has two? 

“Um- Well. My name is Oscar Pine?”, He looks at the floor, trying to patch together a proper way to introduce himself. “But you might know me as Professor Ozpin…?” 

Dead silence. Everyone is staring. 

“I DID IT!”, Qrow cheers, then promptly collapses off the couch and passes out. 

More silence.

“ _ That looked like it hurt. _ ” 

“He had it coming.”, Oscar remarks, looking up in his ‘talking to Ozpin’ habit. 

“What?”, The orange haired one looks directly at Oscar. 

“Oh. Ha I was uh… Oh man.”, He takes a breath. This was so hard. 

“ _ You’re floundering. _ ”, Ozpin mocks him. Because he’s a bully. “ _ Oh, don’t be so dramatic, Oscar. _ ”

“I am not dramatic. This is hard!”, He yells out loud, up to the heavens. 

“Oh, he’s crazy.”, Nora shrugs, flopping back onto her part of the couch. 

“No, I’m not!”, He’d gone through a lot today to prove he isn’t crazy. Listening to a voice in his head to come to Mistral and find a drunk man in a bar, it was streunious. Maybe he was a little off-kilter. “I’m sorry.” 

“Who are you talking to then?”, Jaune asks, arms crossed as he looks down at Oscar. Why was everyone so tall? 

“ _ I think it’s that you’re on the small side of things, Oscar. _ ” 

“Ignoring that-”, Oscar rubs the back of his neck. “That’s uh. I’m talking to your former headmaster?” 

“What? Like ESP or something?”, Nora leans forward, way too eager for the situation. 

“No- like….”, A yawn breaks his sentence. “Ugh- I don’t know how to explain it.” 

Ruby is helping her uncle lay on the couch proper. Qrow began snoring loudly in his drunken stupor. Even with the agitated expression she was wearing, it shifted to kindness as her gaze moved to Oscar. 

“...You must be tired. Even as drunk as he is, uncle Qrow wouldn’t bring you here if you were dangerous to us.”, Ruby gives a diplomatic answer with an accompanied welcoming glance. “We can get answers in the morning. How about we set you up a place to sleep?” 

“We’re seriously letting some random kid who says he’s our old teacher stay in the house?”, Nora states, pointing at Oscar. Who looks more and more like he’s fading each second. Must have been a rough day. 

“To be fair, Ruby can vaporize Grimm with her eyes, Qrow can turn into a bird and is bad luck incarnate. Plus Nora, you can literally get struck by lightning and not die.”, Jaune offers, shrugging. “We can deal with everything in the morning, like Ruby said.” 

“Since there’s no way I’m hauling uncle Qrow up the stairs, we have a spare bed in our room. We’ll set up the other one tomorrow if you want to stay with us. Right now we’ve been throwing our weapons and gear onto it so it’s all icky.” 

“Uh- Thank you.”, Oscar steps behind Ruby, following after her like a scolded puppy with his head ducked. 

When they make it upstairs, Ruby opens the door to her and Qrow’s shared room. True to what she said, there’s a giant piece of red-metal on the third bed Ozpin helpfully lets him know is named Crescent Rose. A weapon he does not want to be on the business end of, as Ms. Rose's proficiency with it is rivaled only by her mentor, Scythe Master Qrow Branwen. 

“That’s uncle Qrow’s bed, so you can take that one for tonight. Ren will probably do the sheets for the other bed tomorrow. Nora and I aren’t allowed to use the washer machine anymore.” 

“ _ Sounds very much like those girls. _ ”, Oz laughs. 

“T-thank you. Again. Sorry.”, Oscar tentatively steps his way over to the bed. “I promise I’m not crazy. I wish Qrow could explain for me and I don’t really like the whole body-take over thing-” 

“Eh. He gets drunk all the time. I’m glad you brought him home. I trust you just based on that alone!”, Ruby beams at him, plopping down onto her comforter. An array of comic books and light novels are scattered on the bed. She is careful not to ask more about ‘body-take over’. “I was just about to go out and look for him myself, so you saved me the trouble.”

“Sorry again. For barging in.” 

“Wow, you apologize a lot! Don’t worry, I’m pretty used to Qrow doing this. I’m sorry you had to drag him there. It’s nice to meet you, though. Oh, I never really introduced myself!”, She leans forward, extending a hand. “I’m Ruby Rose! I just turned sixteen, I like dogs, guns, and reading!”

Oscar paused for a moment, slightly overwhelmed by the sheer kindness of this girl in front of him.  _ “I think this is where you introduce yourself as well, Oscar.” _

“Oh- Uh. I’m Oscar Pine. I turn fifteen in a few months? I like… Plants? I also like to read.”, He shakes Ruby’s hand, a small nervous smile on his face. 

“Nice to meet you, Oscar!” 

“...Nice to meet you too. Er- Ruby.”, He takes a few steps back to sit on the edge of Qrow’s bed. “Are you reading Darknight Hero…?” 

He can’t help but ask. It’s a good comic book, and he wasn’t even the biggest fan of graphic novels. He always picks up any copy between visits to Mistral with his Aunt.

“Yes! No spoilers! I just started it.” 

“Okay, no spoilers.”, Man, Ruby really made it easy to feel at ease. 

“I should also probably stop reading and go to bed. I’ll head to the bathroom to change into PJs though. Ahaha.”, She springs up, grabbing a pile of clothes that were on the floor. Presumably her pajamas. “Do you have anything to sleep in?” 

“Er- no. I left my bag at the bar when the waitress was going to kick us out. I’ll go get it in the morning-”, At the very least, the waitress felt bad enough for him having to deal with a drunk huntsman to give him a safe place to store his luggage for an evening. But he wasn’t very happy about leaving his books and medication in the hands of strangers. 

“No worries! You can borrow some of mine. Or Jaune’s but I don’t know if you wanna go back down and talk to him yet! I know just how stressful meeting new people can be!” 

(“But you’ve done it so perfectly?”), Oscar thinks to himself. “Thank you. Sorry.” 

“No problem. Pick out what you’d like from the pile there-”, And she gestures to a neat stack of what appeared to be freshly laundered clothes. “You can change here, I’ll be right back! Then I’ll show you where the bathroom is, just in case!” 

After she leaves, Oscar goes over and grabs a black sweatshirt and green pants that have the Beacon logo on the side of it. Nice loose clothes perfect for sleeping. His first night with a confirmation that he’s not insane. 

Oscar unlaces his boots, placing them just outside the door. He should have taken them off at the door but he was distracted. Couldn’t really blame him, still, bad manners.

Just like him, Ruby wasn’t a person of impressive stature, so the pajamas fit well. He yawns again, stretching his shoulders. 

“ _ I couldn’t imagine why you’re so tired. _ ”, Ozpin remarks sarcastically. 

“Something between running away from home and carrying a drunk man twice my height across Mistral. Couldn’t have been those.”, He jokes back, patiently sitting on the bed waiting for Ruby to return. 

“ _ First impressions of my students? _ ” 

“I didn’t really get to talk to any of them but Red- Ruby…”, He pauses, thinking over the seamless interaction he managed with someone his age. “But she seems really nice. I can see the resemblance between her and her uncle but I think she’s more mature than him.” 

“ _ You’ll find Qrow can get serious from time to time. Though, it’s few and far between. _ ” 

“...I just hope I can get to know them as me, y’know.” 

_ “I’m sure they will, Oscar. They are not one-dimensional. But I do want you to know there will be information that would be best coming from me, and not me via proxy.” _

“ _ Eugh _ . I don’t like that switch thing. Makes me feel weird.” 

“ _ In time, you will inherit my memories and power and be the dominant- _ ” 

“-But I’m still just a piece of the legacy. Yeah. I know.”, Oscar huffs, not fighting the bitter feeling of having his life changed out from under him. 

“ _...I’m sorry. _ ”

“You were the same as me, I guess.”, He adjusted himself to lean back against the wall. Tapping his head against the beige print. “I can get over short moments of body-take-over stuff as long as I say it’s okay. At least let me feel like I have some kind of control over myself.” 

“ _ No problems there. Though, it would be quite funny to hear you translate my information.” _

“Har har.”

The door opens a crack. “Sorry I took so long! I was trying to find a toothbrush for you. It’s the orange one in the bathroom. Can I come in?” 

“Ye- yeah.., He answers, flawlessly. 

Ruby steps into the room, wearing rose-printed bottoms and a black tank top. “...Were you talking to the headmaster? I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, I heard you talking.” 

“Mh. Sorry, I know it’s weird.” 

“Nah. It’s like talking to an imaginary friend! Except he’s real!”

“ _ Well, I admire her optimism _ .” 

“I guess that’s one way of looking at it.”, He smiles. 

“Here-”, She extends her hand, waving him over, signaling for him to follow her. 

He does, padding quietly behind her. There’s some sound from another room in the hallway. Probably the other students he met downstairs getting ready for bed. 

“Ta-dah! The bathroom.”, Ruby gestures wide to the unremarkable door in the hallway leading to a very tiny washroom. “There’s one down stairs, and an extra shower in the dojo but this is where we all get cleaned up at night.” 

“Thank you, Ruby.”, He flicks the light on, looking at the mess of products and amenities on the counter. “I’m gonna brush my teeth and go to bed. I’m… Kinda too tired to take a shower?” 

“Oh, mood.”, She nods, sage-like. 

“ _ I’d say you’ll regret waking up smelling like alcohol in the morning but you will be sleeping in Qrow’s bed so it’s inevitable.” _

They walk back into the room, drowsy and ready to knock out for the night. Ruby loudly flops down onto her bed while Oscar opts for a more dignified approach. Which took a lot of willpower because he really would rather just collapse face down into the mattress and say goodbye to the world for six to eight hours. 

The blankets do smell like whiskey but Oscar can’t bring himself to care. 

“G’night, Oscar. Nice to meet you.”, Ruby giggles, throwing the covers over herself. 

“Good night, Ruby. Nice meeting you too.” 

.

.

.

The first week is weird. Day one starts with waking up to Qrow swinging the door open loudly, putting a hole in the wall, to see if meeting Oz the night prior really happened. Which then woke up Ruby who immediately kicked her uncle out for aforementioned awakening. Oscar just blinked wearily, giving a small wave to Qrow before mimicking Ruby and lying back down for another hour. 

He gets up, takes a shower (which is nice, having hot water without having to boil it first), and goes down to the living room. 

After a rally of questions and conjecture from the other students, he takes a calming breath, fades to the back of his mind and allows Oz to take the forefront. 

And the Headmaster explains their situation flawlessly. It’s weird and he can tell that they don’t get it. But they accept it with varying reservations. 

Jaune is skeptical of Ozpin, resentful for the fate that had befallen his teammate. He tries though, tries to see Oscar for Oscar and does well most of the time. 

Nora doesn’t care about the lines and dual personality. He’s dubbed ‘cute boy Oz’ and it’s more embarrassing for the older. Because Nora treats Ozpin as if he were a fourteen year old rather than treating Oscar like he was thousands of years old. It’s funny, in a weird way. 

Ren, Oscar couldn’t really tell what he thought. He followed his teammates, but offered a kind supportive voice while Oscar adjusted to a Huntsmen lifestyle. 

He knows Qrow expects wisdom from Oz. But at least he knows Oscar is just a kid and doesn’t stack  _ too much _ on his shoulders. 

Ruby is sweet, supportive, and acts like his scenario is as normal as can be. Her company is the simplest to engage with. Everyone else makes his shoulders go stiff and feel like he has to apologize. Not that they’re mean or anything. He’s pressed to his mental limits. It’s all a little overwhelming.

.

Day two brings more awkwardness, navigating a social dynamic between himself and the other students. 

Qrow doesn’t get as drunk as the first night and Oscar is happy for that. In fact, the man helps draw up a training schedule for him. 

“I did it for Ruby when she wanted to learn scythe-wielding. Plus a couple of my students at Signal.” 

“You were a teacher?”, They’re sitting in the living room again, Oscar has a book about Huntsmen/Huntress basics in his lap. Ruby lent it to him and he was making his best effort to pour over the contents. With bonus tips from Oz. 

“Eh. I quit pretty quick. Only started working there when Ruby was in school and left as soon as she got admitted to Beacon. Tai had been trying to get me in for years after Yang started there. It was a pain in the ass.” 

Oscar thinks it’s sweet that he joined a profession he didn’t want, if only to look over his nieces. “Not really one for teaching then?” 

“Not for a bunch of brats I couldn’t give two shits about.” 

“That was kind of you. To give up your time.”, Oscar means it. Almost reminds him of his aunt, who gave up the life she had to raise him after removing him from a worse environment. 

“Yeah, well. I love those kids more than anything. Plus, Ruby’s always had a rough time in new places and making new friends… I figured me being there with Tai and Yang would help out more.” 

“It keeps getting implied that she’s not good at social interaction when I’ve seen no evidence.”, He jokes, because Ruby had been nothing but perfect, helping him adjust to life away from home. 

“‘Cause you kids are all equally weird.”, Qrow snorts, penning in “hand to hand” on the paper. 

. 

Day five is fun. It’s the first time he gets to draw their cane and fight. There’s a foreign instinct in his muscles while Oscar twirls it and bashes it against Jaune’s shield. It bounces off with a satisfying bang. 

Sure, he’s had nights practicing with a spear and sword. Whatever he needed to do to help protect the farm from Grimm. His aunt never let him touch any of the guns though. Regardless, he’s confident Oz has something to do with the fluidity of his strikes. 

The only problem left, he can’t breathe in his binder while fighting. 

“You’re pretty good.”, Jaune praises while Oscar wipes sweat off his forehead. The blond can see Oscar is fading. “Do you want to take a break? We’ve been going at this for a while. We can go watch Nora and Ruby spar and hope they don’t blow us up.” 

“Sounds good.”, He swallows the tired tone, plastering on his best ‘tough’ expression. Following Jaune out of the dojo and out into the backyard.

Ruby and Nora don’t blow anything up, only because Qrow calls the match as soon as the grenade launcher comes out. 

.

Week two is easier to navigate. They’ve got a dynamic going. Most of the day is spent training, and at night everyone helps prepare dinner. He’s been placed on cutting onions and vegetables as “the worst job” in the kitchen. It’s really not that bad. His eyes sting a little after but he’s proud not to start outwardly sobbing like Jaune and Ruby do. 

He’s still doing basic combat training with Jaune for the most part. Catching him up to speed developmentally while refining the blond boy as the formerly-least combat ready. 

Each night he peels off his clothes and takes a shower. There’s bruises on his chest from over-wearing, exercising with no breaks, and it’s not a great situation. 

The loose sweatshirt he borrows from Ruby helps for nights. So he can breath while sleeping.

Now he’s sitting on the bathroom floor, hand tenderly pressing into a bruise on the side of his ribcage. 

“ _ Don’t push on them _ .”, Ozpin scolds, then sighs loudly. “ _ Oscar, have you considered talking to the other students? You can’t keep pushing yourself like this. _ ” 

“I’ll be fine.”, His answer is short. They’ve had a similar conversation every night for the past week. 

“ _ You aren’t fine. I only wish I knew more so I could help you traverse. But I don’t. There has to be a better alternative _ .” 

“They sell them for Huntsmen and Huntresses. They cost a fortune, I don’t have that kind of money.”

“ _ I’m sure Qrow will have some funds on him _ .” 

“They need that for food and rent here. Bullets and stuff that has nothing to do with me.” 

“ _ It will have something to do with them if you fall limp on the battlefield out of a misplaced fear. You can trust them. _ ” 

“I’ve only known them for a few days. You don’t understand that it’s  _ hard _ .”, Oscar dabs the gel onto his contusions. 

“ _ You’ve had a lot of tough choices to make recently, Oscar. Think hard, and make the right choice. For your health. _ ” 

Oscar doesn’t respond, grabbing and shoving on his sweater. Ruby and Qrow don’t comment as he flops face first into his bed. 

.

He hates it when Oz is right. Week three and he’s in the bathroom, running his head under cold water in the sink and taking deep gasping breaths. Jaune’s probably freaked out that Oscar suddenly ran out of the dojo without a word and up the stairs after dissociating on the floor for a minute. Courtesy of acute suffocation and the complete realization he can’t breathe.

It was a stupid flubbed dodge that let Jaune get a hit in, a fall that winded him when he already had very little ‘wind’ to begin with.

Fuck. Ren was supervising too. How was he gonna explain this? 

“ _ You can start by telling them you’ve been injuring yourself out of a fear of rejection, firstly. _ ”, Ozpin’s mad at him. Has been getting increasingly so after each training session where Oscar quietly tends to his bruises. 

Oscar doesn’t respond, but he does turn off the water and take his head out of the sink. Grabbing his towel and throwing it over his hair and sinking down to the floor.

He should probably get dressed again and go and apologize for leaving. His stomach churns at the idea. 

“ _ Oscar _ .”, Ozpin’s voice holds him in place. “ _ I… I understand it is less of my business and more of yours- _ ” 

“It’s all my business.”, He manages to get out, still gasping faintly. 

“ _ But I can not allow you to keep on like this. You’re harming yourself, you almost blacked out just then. Please. At least tell one of the students, Qrow. Someone in this house. You will feel better and rather than letting you suffer in silence, we can get you some more appropriate gear. _ ” 

“Oscar? Are you okay?”, There’s two soft knocks on the bathroom door. Jaune’s voice startles Oscar up off the tile. 

“Uh. Yeah. One second-”, He reaches out for his binder and normal shirt. 

But his hand stops. 

“You said you wouldn’t do that-.”, Oscar’s temper flares, trying to force his own arm to listen. 

“ _ I’m sorry. But I can not allow you to hurt yourself like this. If you must not tell anyone, at least put on the nightshirt and go lay down for today _ .”, Ozpin feels horrible, for forcing Oscar’s hand (literally), and for pushing him out of his comfort zone. There is no sustaining this way of living.

Oscar flexes his fingers as control is granted back. He’s still breathless and upset… 

Angrily, he grabs the black sweatshirt and throws it on. 

“ _ Thank you _ .” 

“Whatever.”

“Oscar? I-I’m really sorry for hitting you during practice. Is everything okay?”, Jaune sounds so concerned. All of them are so nice to him…

They’re his teammates now. Qrow looks after them, writes his training routine and makes coffee. Nora picks him up and cheers when he does something right, or wrong. Ren makes sure he has time to breath, mediate, and feel peace. Ruby reads with him, they spend hours annoying Qrow at night with their ‘fandom’ back and forth. He didn’t realize he had no one to talk about his stories with before. 

This is his team… He should trust them… But it’s so scary. So many more people than his isolated home and his loving aunt…

No. He’s a Huntsman now. Bravery is a necessary trait. Not optional.

“Jaune?”, He talks through the bathroom door, looking at his face in the mirror. His cheeks are pale and his eyes are dull. A rest would be nice.

“Y- yeah? What’s up, Oscar?”, Jaune answers back immediately. 

“Can I talk to you about something?”

“Of course!”, Comes a quick agreement. “I’ll wait in our room, or yours if you’d rather? While you finish up whatever you’re doing?” 

“Team JNR room is fine. I’ll be right there.”, His hair is still dripping with cold water. 

A short moment of fluffing the towel over his head and his hair is an acceptable level of damp. No longer soaked. 

Oscar grabs his binder, white to match his usual shirt, and opens the bathroom door. Jaune isn’t in the hallway anymore, but he can see the JPR room door open slightly. He can hear Nora, Ruby and Qrow still training outside. 

Oz is quiet again. Good. He needs to keep his thoughts clear without the side commentary. 

He clenches his fist around the fabric and pads into the room. 

It’s just Jaune in there. Even though Ren’s weapons are laying on his bed and Oscar knows for a fact Ren had them with him downstairs. 

“So what’s up?”, Jaune’s armor is off, leaving him in that silly mascot hoodie and looking a whole lot easier to approach. Aughhh, all of them were so nice and thoughtful- 

“Um. Sorry, I freaked out earlier. I didn’t mean to run out of the dojo without saying anything.” 

“No, I’m sorry for hitting you that hard. I should have seen you misstep.” 

“Uh. It really didn’t hurt.” 

“But it scared you? Is that why you ran out?”, Jaune pats a spot next to him, but Oscar just sits on the floor. It provided a weird sort of comfort, being low to the ground. 

“Not really...”, Oscar rubs the back of his neck. Steeling his will before holding out his sweaty binder in an open palm with his eyes closed. “I’ve been wearing this too much, and it’s been hurting me. When I got winded, I panicked because… Because I couldn’t breath?” 

It’s out in the open now. He trusts them, he trusts them, he trusts- Oscar peaks open an eye to gauge Jaune’s reaction to his offhanded coming out. He knows the older boy has hang-ups and ire for Ozpin, and still struggled to note the difference from time to time...

Jaune’s eyes are wide for a second before softening, kneeling off the bed and in front of Oscar. “Thank you for telling me, Oscar.” 

“Mhm.”, Because his nerves are too shot to say much more. 

“They make special ones for physical fields like being a huntsman. We’ll have to go get you one.”, Jaune places a hand on Oscar’s shoulder. “We should get your measurements, so I can commission it in town.” 

“...That’s a lot of lien…”

“We’ve all got some money from the odd jobs we took on our way to Mistral. And all of us would be happy to use it to help you.”, They’re just… so nice. 

Suddenly, he’s wrapped up in a light hug. “Seriously, Oscar. Thank you. I can’t imagine it was easy to do that.”

“Yeah… Well. You guys make it way too easy to trust you.”, He jokes, leaning his head onto Jaune’s shoulder. 

They pull apart. “Is it okay if I explain everything to Ren? He was worried about you too, when you bolted like that. I understand if you’d rather do it yourself.” 

“Uh-”, Oscar pauses. “You can tell him. I think I’m gonna go lay down. My chest hurts. Emotionally and physically.” 

“Go relax. I’ll let everyone know to keep quiet tonight. We’ll get you for dinner.” 

He gets up, stepping towards the hallway and eager for his bed. “Could you… Could you not tell the others? I want to do that much myself.” 

“Of course. Go rest. I’m gonna get that commissioned for you as soon as we get your size.” 

“Thank you, Jaune.” 

“No, thank you, Oscar.” 

They smile softly at each other, and Oscar leaves the room. Considering their rooms are right next to one another, it wasn’t much of a hassle to go lay down. 

He closes the blinds, pulls the covers back, and throws them over his head. 

“ _ Would now be a bad time for the ‘I told you so’, or should I wait for morning _ ?” 

“Shut up, man.” 

.

Jaune makes good on his promise. One night, Ren and Jaune measure his shoulder line and chest, pen down the numbers, and then the following day they put in a commission at a local combat gear specialist. 

It’s really, really expensive. But the older boys don’t bat an eye at the cost, only sharing a smile with one another before leaving to go get groceries for the house. He assumes they told Nora about him too. Because that night while Oscar was doing dishes, Nora barged in and gave him a bone crushing hug followed by a vicious ruffling of his hair. 

They’re a team after all. He’s not going to make them keep secrets from one another.

Now he just has to find out how to tell Ruby and Qrow. 

Another two days go by before it’s finished. Somehow, he gets to spend those days waiting doing book studies with Ren and Ruby while Qrow works with Jaune on swordsmanship. Nora does whatever she desires at any given moment, but sometimes Ren can get her to settle down enough and look at the pictures in their textbooks. 

He missed out on a lot of general education over the years. Beacon was an elite school for the best of the best Huntsman. And he was a homeschooled fourteen year old agriculture specialist. 

“Uh. Wait, so there’s official Huntsmen and Huntresses, then unofficial ones?”, Oscar scratches his temple with the eraser of his pence. 

“ _ Well- _ ”, Oz starts. 

“Mhm! Official ones get paid more and they have more freedom!”, Ruby flips through the pages of her book. “Officially licensed Huntsmen/Huntresses are recognized by their Kingdom’s governing body. They have higher legal authority, ability to commit arrests, and protections against legal recourse from damages caused in the line of duty.”

“Unlicensed Huntsmen/Huntresses do not have any of these protections and have full accountability for their own actions. They may not take jobs or requests listed by their Kingdom’s commission. They often work via private means, such as guards in smaller settlements.”, She finishes, reading the small passage. 

“ _ She’s beaten me to it. _ ”, The headmaster laughs lightly. 

“Sounds about right, but less guard work and more shady criminal stuff.”, Qrow strolls into the living room, a very tired looking Jaune behind him. 

“A lot of Huntsmen who lose their license will fall down… A less than reputable path.”, Ren adds in, shutting his textbook. “That’s good for today. We should probably be going down to the store for dinner supplies.” 

“You guys go one without me. Think I’m gonna take a shower.”, Jaune marches up the stairs, he looks exhausted. What kind of sword training was he doing? 

“Ah. Good ol’ uncle Qrow lessons.”, Ruby snorts, watching him disappear upstairs. 

“Oscar, would you like to come to the store?”, They made a habit of shopping every few days to keep the food in their diet fresh and healthy. No processed foods for the growing kids. 

“Sure! Let me just put my books-.” 

“I wanna go too!”, Ruby bounces in her seat. 

“We can all go. I’ll go get Nora.”, Ren gets up and strolls off into the direction of the kitchen, having some sort of sixth sense for wherever his partner was. 

It’s not a special or spectacular trip to the store. Ren and Ruby shop while Oscar and Nora break off to go pick up his custom-made binder. The tailor at the counter waves them goodbye. 

As soon as they're outside, Nora scoops Oscar up to carry him on her shoulders like he’s a toddler. It’s embarrassing, and he’s gotta ball his fist into her jacket just to not fall over but she seems unaffected. She runs around looking for their friends (their friends!!) and ignores the stares of judgmental civvies. 

At some point he loses himself to the laughter of it all. Even more so when Ruby and Nora try to convince Ren to a chicken-race. 

  
  


The Ruby-Ren team loses by a landslide. 

.

When Nora pulls Jaune, Ren, and himself aside to start an insane theory about Ruby and Qrow he listens. It’s fun in the weirdest way. But nothing about his new family was normal.

.

The new binder is incredible. He can breathe, he can train, he can fight, without feeling like he’s going to pass out. 

It feels so much better that he actually forgets to tell Ruby or Qrow. No ideal moment seems to present itself. It doesn’t affect his day to day. His days are filled with learning, and his nights are filled with story time between Ruby and him. Sitting cross legged on one of their beds and picking out a new book or finishing an old one. They’re sure to read loud enough to annoy the old Huntsman. 

But they all know he secretly enjoys listening as well. 

Honestly? Everything is a little too perfect.

He has Jaune and Ren to help with his shots now. They take him to his usual doctor in Mistral who was very surprised to see Oscar again so soon. In which, carefully omits the whole running away from home scenario. 

Time keeps ticking away as they prepare. Prepare to protect Haven and then the world next. 

Oscar hasn’t even gone on a single mission yet, but he feels ready. He can match Jaune in swordsmanship (canesmanship?), Ruby in hand-to-hand (which isn’t saying too much, but at least she hadn’t cracked his nose again after the first time), and can keep up in routine exercise. 

It takes a lot for Oscar to not feel terrible anytime he lands a blow on any of them. But the fact that they always retaliated immediately while he was saying sorry helped break the habit. 

He knows he’s been here for a while now. Knows because he’s comfortable in every aspect. Lounging in the living room waiting on Qrow and Ruby to come home from Qrow’s routine visits to the hospital. Now Oscar was leaning forward while Ren painstakingly taught him chess. Which was a lot harder than checkers. So many rules… 

Sliding a pawn forward, hand on chin, Oscar watches Ren’s expression carefully. 

Of course a knock breaks his focus, eyes shifting to the door while Jaune gets up and answers. 

In the doorway are two familiar blonde’s. Familiar in the Oz way. 

“Yang?”, Jaune’s tone was one of disbelief. 

Nora, hopping up from her spot laying upside on the couch, bolted towards the blonde girl in an impressive tackle hug. Even more impressive that Yang seemed to match the strength. Nora never failed in knocking Oscar to the ground. 

They talk for a moment, everyone welcoming Yang and her father (“ _ Taiyang is his name _ .”) into their house.

The two fret over Ruby and Qrow’s absence but Ren soothes it with the reasoning. A safety measure. From an unbelievable scenario. Hearing how Tyrian had threatened Ruby and poisoned Qrow was a wild tale. 

“...We'll tell you as much as we can. Uh. Oscar? Should we...?", Jaune looks over at him. Oh man. It’s been a while since the awkward weirdness of explaining his dual persona situation came up…

“ _ You’ll be fine, Oscar. Mr. Xiao Long is already well aware of the greater whole. He was a trusted member of my regime before retiring to take care of Ms. Xiao Long and Ms. Rose. You have nothing to worry about in terms of rejection.“ _ , Ozpin nudges him forward. “ _ Just the latest news, and getting Ms. Xiao Long up to speed _ .”

"He says it should be fine. Mr. Xiao Long already has the jist of it. Just the recent developments.", Oscar stands up, chess game abandoned, and approaches Taiyang. 

“...Oz?”, Tai looks at this young boy, sees the wisdom brewing in his eyes. 

This was going to be a long afternoon. 

.

.

.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SPAM ME ABOUT RWBYV8!!! I'm @RottenViscera on twitter and am DYING for people to talk to. V8C2 broke me. 
> 
> See you in the next CH < 3


	3. Chapter Three : Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> unbetad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have never learned from posting directly after finishing writing and my mistakes will tell you that. 
> 
> Some of the content in this CH is straight from Branwen's but shown in Oscar's perspective. 
> 
> tw for directly referenced child abuse

Yang is a new interesting addition to their household. She’s loud, charismatic, and intimidatingly strong. He can feel Ozpin’s pride as Yang fluidly uses her robotic arm, like nothing ever happened. 

But just like everyone else (besides Qrow, Ruby, and now Taiyang), she’s understandably confused about how to act around him. Their interaction fades into her comfort talking to his teammates from their time at Beacon. Now with Oscar as a bonus character in the background.

Is he a centuries old being of seemingly infinite knowledge and experience, or is he a fourteen year old who had to stifle back tears watching an animated movie last night? Who knows? Certainly not Oscar himself. 

So when Yang talks fondly about her ideas and past with her family, he quietly listens. He plays along with her plan to surprise her younger sister. (Yeah… He wasn’t a very good actor.) 

He warms at seeing them unite again, after over a year apart. 

Oscar stares in horror as Jaune takes over setting up the tabletop burner from him, and the scent of heated dust that leaks out of the canister. Luckily (ahaha, get it? _Yes, Oscar. Very funny_ ), Qrow steps in and screws it on properly. 

He winces as Tai scolds Ruby for her reckless behavior. And yeah, he wants to defend her but her dad is right and it’s not his place. Oscar thinks about how his Aunt would handle him coming home. Running away without a word for a month. Let alone a year, to a different continent. That she apparently got to on foot. 

Things are tense between Qrow and Taiyang. The tenseness in the air is about as disturbing as he remembers from his own parents. 

Still, they all sit around the table (it’s a little hard to fit in extra people with the size of theirs) and he stretches to help load the sukiyaki ingredients on the burner. Like usual, he sits to the right of Qrow and across from Ruby. But now Taiyang is on his left and Yang is at Ruby’s right, rather than Ren and Jaune.

"Hey Ruby, you said something earlier about telling us something over dinner?", Jaune asked, filling his bowl with rice and breaking the silence. 

"Oh yea! I signed us up on a mission to take in the meantime. While we wait on Lionheart. I thought we could use the extra money 'cause we spent so much on food and housewares these last few weeks. Uncle Qrow thought it would be safer to assume other identities so I made fake names for us!", Ruby turned the thin cut beef closest to her while Oscar turned the veggies on the other side. 

"Oh man. Huntsmen missions already?", Oscar fumbles a piece of okra. He feels bad. They would have had more lien if he didn’t get that binder made. 

_“Don’t think that way. It was a dire necessity.”_ , Ozpin reprimands. _“I’m sure anyone here would do it ten times over if it meant keeping you healthy and active.”_

"You'll be fine! It's just a search and destroy mission. It'll be over before you know it. Nothing more than a pack of Beowolves that had been scaring a neighborhood.", Ruby encouraged, giving a soft smile.

"Thanks, Ruby. I hope I don't let you guys down.", Oscar promises himself to double down on his training regime. 

The rest of the night is par of the course. They do dishes, clean the kitchen, and clean up for bed. The only new thing is the knife-thick tension between the adults in their party. 

...Maybe it’ll be better tomorrow…?

.

It’s not. 

Oscar has his pillow clutched over his face and pressed into his ears. It does little to muffle the sounds of fighting. Not a cool monster killing fighting either. Just pure domestic. 

He peeks out from his pillow shield to see Ruby isn’t even in their room anymore. He’s alone. No Qrow, no Ruby. 

On the nightstand, his scroll lights up with a notification. Then another ping. Everyone must be up. 

Oh, Ruby is going for a walk. Oscar begs for an out, frantically typing out a message. (He’s not as fast with the scroll as everyone else is.) 

Oscar hates the yelling. It makes his hands shake and his heart stutter. 

_“I’ll tell you, those two are about to get an earful from me about keeping you kids up so late. Before a mission, no less.”_

“You raised them better than this?”, Oscar jokes, sitting up in his bed and tossing the covers off. 

_“...Well no. They did cause an awful ruckus on campus. It was more entertaining back then.”_

He snorts, looking at Ruby’s confirmation that he’s welcome on her walk. So he swings his legs off the bed and runs a hand through his sleep-mussed hair. 

Oscar takes her affirmation at wearing PJs as validation to also wear pajamas out. He slips on his boots, throws his cane into his pocket, and all but runs out of the house. Jumping the last step and landing in front of Ruby. 

“Ready to go?”, He pants, smiling. The sounds of arguing faded into the breeze. 

“Ready for a night on the town?”, She pumps her arms up, like they're going partying rather than to a dust shop. 

They walk quietly into town. Occasionally breaking it to point at a cool attraction. Mistral had a busy nightlife. People stumbled out of bars and into another one, street vendors shouted competitively. It’s very different from his quiet former life on the farm. But for some reason, he can’t picture living that life anymore. 

After all, this is the life he’d fantasized about his entire childhood. 

Some people give them looks. Oscar isn’t sure if it’s because they’re kids, dressed in pajamas, or the giant red weapon on Ruby’s back. 

Her dust shop (label Dust Shoppe), is tucked a little out of the bustling party scene. The area quiets down and the smell of beer and grilling meats abates. The clerk doesn’t seem too thrilled at their entrance, but it's also like, four am, so… Pass? 

"So, do they uh… Do that a lot?", Oscar asks, as they start milling through the aisles. He hopes it isn’t an overstep of boundaries. 

"Not really. I guess it's my fault this time. I shouldn't have left like I did.", She sighed in response. 

"I wouldn't say that it's your fault.", Why would it be? Sure, Ruby left, but this was obviously an issue between guardians. 

"Huh?"

"They're both just worried about you. I think Qrow needs our help and sees your potential to help. He cares for you, but isn't like um, coddling you. While your dad is just worried about your safety. And can't see past the fact he wants you safe, the fact that you're an AMAZING huntress and can handle yourself.", Oscar explains. No thought needed, all heart. 

"Wow, that was deep. Professor Ozpin, is that you?", Ruby smiled, and that’s a mission accomplished. 

Oz chuckles. _“A kind notion, but the wise words are all your own.”_

"Nope, just me. But he laughed at your joke."

Ruby gives him a thumbs up. "Glad to hear!"

They walk in silence for another second, getting another lukewarm greeting from different staffer. "Sooo, how do you get the bullets you like?"

"Oh!”, Ruby lights up. “Well, they don't have the rounds that I use here. So, I've been making my own. Working with dust is actually super cool. I have this portable bullet filler, so I can make more custom rounds or make rounds in a pinch. They sell the empty shells that I've been buying for really cheap too.”

"Right now, I'm trying thirty-five percent Gravity Dust and then the rest is regular gunpowder. I did this whole paper on bullet recoil a while back and I use it a lot in my fighting style. This gives me a bigger, but controllable boost.", Ruby finishes.

"Whoa. You figured all that out on your own?", That’s seriously impressive. It’s easy to forget how smart Ruby was with her usual lax nature during their lessons. 

"Yep! Everyone at Signal had to calibrate their weapons for dust on their own. They school paid for most of it, but I put so much into Crescent Rose that dad and Qrow had to pay extra."

Yeah, Oscar can see that. "I bet. Your scythe is a mechanical marvel."

"I can show you how it functions one of these days, if you're interested. I do most of the repair work on Yang's Ember Celica too. But you’ll have to ask her if you want to know anything about bikes."

"Um ye- T-That would be cool. Thanks, Ruby.", Oscar gives his own thumbs up, nodding. "I've been wanting to learn more about Huntsmen and Huntresses. Weapons are a good place to start."

"I also have some books I can lend you! Most of them are still at home in Patch but I brought my favorites with me. You'd love Huntress Tales. It's a collection of real short stories written by Huntresses about their adventures.", Ruby’s expression shifts to something solemn, yet fond. "There's actually a story from my mom in there. I read it sometimes when I feel down."

Okay. Oscar knows what he’s reading next. Maybe he’ll ask that they read it together. Nights they got to read were his favorite. "That would be awesome. I couldn't bring all my books either. It'll be nice to read something new."

"I keep forgetting that you've never been in combat before. Or like, that you lived a normal life before becoming a mysterious boy-wizard.", That’s fine. He forgets too. 

"Yea... It's been crazy. And exhausting. But I know in my heart I'm doing the right thing."

"What was your life like before this?", She questions, innocently enough. "I just realized I know nothing about you."

And… Oscar’s not sure what to share. His life wasn’t exactly normal. He can only share the years with his aunt comfortably. "I don't know too much about you guys either. Aside from the few weeks we've been around one another and stuff Ozpin told me."

"Pleeease?", She begs. He trusts her, like he trusts JNR with his secrets. Secrets he probably should have told Ruby by now...

"...I lived with my aunt for most of my life. My parents weren't super great people... “, He takes a shaky breath. “One night my aunt came into town to visit as a surprise and... She ended up taking me with her to the farm that night. It worked out though. Her husband had just passed away and she needed help tending to the animals and fields."

There’s a warm hand on his shoulder. Silver eyes stare at him with unyielding kindness. “Sounds like she did the right thing. We’re lucky to have you with us, Oscar.”

"It's uh. Not a big deal to me- anymore. That they didn't... Take care of me. I had more fun on the farm anyways. My aunt's a super cool lady.”, Ruby would probably love her. His aunt was a strong bull of a person. “She didn't know what to do with a kid. Her husband and her never had children, but she did great anyways. I know she loves me and I love her. I hope she's doing okay at the farm by herself...", Oscar shrugged. "But that's basically all there is to me. Your turn."

That was the ideal time to come out, come clean and finish sharing his secrets with the team. And he hesitated.

“Psh, you know tons of stuff about me. Uncle Qrow loves embarrassing me. My dad is just as bad so I’m sure you’ll hear me in all the hilarious ways they can think of.” 

“It’s nice. That they love you so much.” 

‘Even when they can’t agree on how too.”, She complains, snatching a vial of purple dust off the shelf. 

“Yang said they just needed to get it out of their system. It’s probably better that they get it out of the way now.”, It was his turn to offer a supportive hand on her shoulder. 

“Yeah, I guess. I just feel bad.” 

Oscar gives a reserved smile. “Well uh… Wanna show me what the dust you use looks like?”, He’s sure he can ask Oz or read about it. But learning from his peers was more fun. 

“Smooth topic change, farm boy.”, Ruby snorts, punching his shoulder lightly. “I use the medium fine grit gunpowder and fine gravity dust.”

This conversation turns into a crash course on how guns work. Oscar thinks he gets it. A bullet is loaded into the rear of the barrel, which is a tube connected to the firing pin. Ruby’s bullets are handmade with the gravity dust closest to the pin. When the trigger is pulled, that explosion ignites the gunpowder and activates the dust, which is tucked inside the shell casing surrounding the bullet. 

The resulting action is a gravity pulse happening concurrently with the bullet firing. Allowing Ruby to-... It’s a lot of information at once. And it’s really early. Hell, the sun is starting to peek over the horizon. (He’ll never forgive Qrow for giving him a sleepless night on his first mission, no matter how cool it was to hang out with Ruby.)

He can leave the logistics of guns and their mechanisms to her. He’s fine with the cane. 

Ruby is still rambling about weapons and he respects and fears her lung capacity because Oscar himself hasn't been able to catch a single word in the last five minutes. 

It’s weird, he’s been here for months. Around some of the best huntresses and huntsmen the world has ever seen. And yet he’s gotten to the point of picking and choosing the information he learns. 

“-When you grow up?”, Ruby looks at him expectantly. 

“Huh? Sorry, I zoned out.”, He rubs the back of his neck, at least feeling guilty for getting caught not paying attention. 

Luckily, she doesn’t hold it against him. “I asked what did you wanna be when you grew up? Y’know, before becoming a wizard.” 

“Oh. Uh. This actually. I was going to apply to Haven Academy when I turned seventeen. I wanted to be huntsmen… But I didn’t think I would actually get in…” 

“Psh. You totally could have made it.”

“Says the one who got into Beacon two years early.” 

“While I am super cool and amazing- I’m starting to think Professor Ozpin had other motives.”, Ruby points to her eyes. 

_“I decline to comment.”_ , Oz quipped in.

“Haha. I dunno. I like working with nature and everything. I loved the farm. But I always wanted to be that… Storybook hero. Who helps someone in need. If that makes sense?” 

“Mhm! Perfect sense. That’s how I feel- or felt. ‘Cause I’m living it.” 

They’re almost back to the house now. The sun is starting to rise on the horizon. Leaving for his first mission in the coming hours. Oscar pauses, standing on the cobbled roads to their community. “I guess I am too.” 

“I know my dad hated it. That I wanted to be a Huntress so bad. He probably hoped I would grow out of it and be a normal little girl.” 

“Aha- W-well.”, Oscar gets that more than anything. Though, he’s sure Taiyang’s reasoning was one of worry and care. “I can understand that.” 

_“Oh?_ ”, Ozpin’s voice registers in his mind. 

“My parents wanted the same thing.”, Oscar gives Ruby a bitter sort of smile. In response, Ruby pauses in her stride towards home. Expression gentle as she places her hand on Oscar’s back. 

Because of course Ruby KNOWS. They share a room. It’s kinda hard to hide and Oscar had openly stopped making an effort at some point into month two of being in the Branwen-Rose-Valkyrie-Ren-Arc-Pine (now +Xiao-Long) household. 

But Ruby would be damned if she brought anything up before Oscar was comfortable enough to do so himself. 

“-My aunt was always approving though. It was so different moving in with her and getting everything I wanted.” 

“Everything you needed, more like! Man, I really want to meet her now. Someone who helped you be who you want to be is worth meeting.”, Ruby cheers, resuming her skip back home. 

Oscar snorts. All he can think is _“That’s a very Ruby thing to say”_. 

“...I don’t know if I can go home to her. After all, I’ll be a different person... Plus I don’t think I can handle her being upset about me leaving.” 

“Well, after we finish the current world saving mission, you can come to Patch with us! Until you're ready to see her again. Or she can come too. We can always use more family around!” 

“Family?” 

“Oh! There’s tons of forests and stuff on Patch too. Dad has a little garden, but the produce always tastes like nothing. Yang and I don’t have the heart to tell him.” 

“He’s watering them too much, then. Or the soil needs to be reworked.”, He steps quickly to match Ruby’s skipping. 

“Maybe give him some hints. For our sake.” 

Oscar snickers. “I’ll do my best to impart my wisdom.”

“Good! I expect restaurant-quality!”, She pumps her arms up, now walking backwards in front of him. 

This is… This is nice. It’s been the first night in a while he’s felt like himself. Even with Oz’s quiet add-ins. 

“...Hey Ruby?” 

“Hm?” 

“...Can you tell me more about Patch?”

.

.

.

His first mission is a disaster. Ruby gets kidnapped. He makes himself kidnapped, following said kidnapper, trying to… Do something? Oscar doesn’t actually know what he’s doing. 

Then he gets thrown in a jail, almost freezes to death, gets saved by Ruby’s Beacon teammate. It’s a whole thing. 

Well, it was nice to help the village people rebuild. He hopes they’re okay after the Grimm attack. 

Apparently that insane lady in black is Yang’s mom. He follows Oz’s orders and Weiss’ lead. He was prepared to fight some Grimm but this is way out of his element. There is much to learn before he’s truly ready. 

But at least he meets Weiss! She’s cool. In the exact ways Oscar imagines an older sister to be. Commanding, yet kind. It compliments Jaune’s perfect older brother vibe. She gives him a blanket and takes him out of the cold. They watch over Ruby together and trade stories. 

They’re bailed out by Qrow and Yang. Even worse bad guys get involved. It’s another _whole thing_. 

But then they’re home. It’s over with. Hopefully the next mission will go over better.

.

.

.

Weiss is another addition that adds another level of personality to the house. She trains Oscar with his cane, to wield it with more elegance and less “bonk with stick”. He feels the new-found grace with each swing he takes.

Their next target is protecting Haven. He’ll need to be ready. Everyone takes their time with Oscar, imparting whatever knowledge they can offer. 

...But Oscar isn’t so sure this one is necessary. 

“Is this even legal?”, He sits awkwardly on Bumblebee. The bike isn’t even running yet, but he’s terrified. 

“Psh. I got my riding permit at fifteen.”, Yang pulled Oscar aside for her own little lesson. Sure, she helped with the hand to hand in partnership with her dad, but this was a lot more fun. 

“I’m fourteen.”, He feels smaller sitting on the bike.

“I let Ruby try when she was fourteen. Her crash wasn’t that bad. Haven’t you’ve ever driven anything before?”

“I sat in a tractor when my aunt rented one once? She let me steer it around.”, Oscar pauses. “-Wait, did you say crash?!” 

“That’s more experience then she had! So, here-”, Yang shoves a bright yellow helmet over his head. His hair smushes down into his eyes. As she flicks up the visor, Yang pushes some of it out of the way. “Perfect.” 

“Yang, I’m not so sure I can-”, There’s still brown locks blocking half of his vision. He tries his best to fix his hair, but everything keeps falling back over his eyes. 

“It’s an important skill! What if we’re stranded and I’m unconscious? Then how will you get us to safety?”

“When are we ever separated from the others- And I’m like, ninety percent sure Ozpin knows how to drive a motorcycle.” 

“Yeah but Oscar doesn’t.”, She boops his nose and shuts the visor abruptly. 

“ _To be fair, it’s been about… fifty or so years since I’ve driven one of these. Those were my more… Reckless years._ ”, Oz adds. 

“I’m going to die.” 

“Don't be so dramatic.”, Yang taps the ignition and the bike roars to life. It jerks forward a moment before she twists the brakes with her other hand. “Okay, so this is the brake, that's the accelerator, and you twist your wrist to control how fast you want to go. Or if you want to stop.” 

“This is the clutch, go put two fingers on it. Like that. You’ll need that for shifting gears. You know how that works, right?”

“What- How would I know?!” 

Yang plops herself onto the back of the bike. Placing her hands on his shoulders. “I’m right here if you have any trouble, I’ll take over. No worries.”

“No worries she says…”, And he twists the throttle experimentally. He could try, at the very least?

Thus, Oscar heads back home, a massive tear in his pants and several healing scrapes on his arms and legs. He’s on the back of Bumblebee, arms wrapped around Yang’s waist, pouting into her back. 

“Come on, you did great! I’ll paint the scratches tomorrow and we can try again.”, Yang shouts over the wind. 

“I never want to do that _again_.”, The wounds would heal. His pride would not. 

“I’ll invite Jaune and Ruby next time?”, She didn’t need to be in the household long to know one can get Oscar to do just about anything so long as he had the support of either team leader. 

“...Maybe.” 

.

.

.

“Oooh! Should we make some new team attacks?”, Nora jumps up, with her infinite energy, as everyone rests for their usual training break. 

“Huh?”, Jaune cocked his head, cracking open a water bottle. 

“You know, like the dumb ones you came up with before the Vytal Festival?”, Nora points a finger into his chest. “Or the cooler ones we came up with as team RNJR?” 

“Hey, they weren’t stupid.” 

“Flower power?”, Ren deadpans. 

“Okay, so maybe Sugar Rush and Martial Arcs sounded cooler but-” 

“Ruby is better at naming the team attacks.”, Come one Ren, give him a chance. 

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang laugh from their side of the yard. “We can all come up with some! Even if Jaune’s are dumb!”, Ruby encourages. 

“Wait, someone get me up to speed.”, Oscar, the newest member of the family, was lost on this topic. 

“When we were in Beacon, Ruby came up with a bunch of combo moves for our team. It actually helped for strategy on the field.”, Yang inched closer to ORNJ. “Then Jaune copied it with lame ones for his team.” 

“I’m right here.” 

“Yeah, whatever- So we up for some new combos?” 

Everyone agrees and the adults don’t stop them from ditching training to make up their own training. It’s a win in their books. It’s always hard to get kids to pay attention after a certain point, so if they wanted to make up their own process so be it. 

So halfway through their usual training regime, they stopped and started on team attacks. After a week or so, they wind up with three worthwhile results;

Nordic Winter; Weiss and Nora. The greater combo involved the Knight summons and Nora using it as a glorified mountain to climb for better attack range. Launching her off its massive sword into large enemies. 

Dragon Slayer; An extremely physical-based move by Jaune and Yang. Using the range of Jaune’s sword and close-combat of Yang’s gauntlets. 

Snow Pines; A dual light-weapon combination that felt a lot more like dancing than fighting. It was shockingly easy to learn with copying Weiss’ fancy footwork. Oscar was also very happy to have at least one team attack with everyone. 

Everything else could use some work. It would probably be easier to match up when Oscar unlocks his semblance. Because all he had right now was basically a cool stick and the knowledge to wield it. Weiss was the most versatile of their group with her summons and glyphs. 

“Support, DPS, and ranged all in one person!”, Ruby shouts excited, clapping along to some random workout music they started playing. 

For fun, they show him the other combos that had already been established. Ice Flower was cool (literally), and provided more freezing ability than standard dust-based bullets. It was really hard to tell when “Flower Power” was in action. It looked like how Nora and Ren fought all the time. 

Freezerburn is his favorite though. The mist was cool. And obviously, they dropped the rest of training to play manhunt afterwards in the fog. 

“What do you expect, they’re kids.”, Tai smiles, looking towards the direction Ruby petal-bursted off into as Yang declared it’s go time. 

“I expected Yang to not pick a shitty hiding spot. I can see her hair from a mile away.”, Qrow scoffed before shifting. His bet is on Ren winning. The kid practically disappeared into the background.

The birds-eye view was for seeing who needed some more stealth training. 

.

.

.

Boys night. A night for THE BOYS. A teen movie staple. A right of passage. 

The notion that led Oscar to standing in the middle of the same night-life area he went with Ruby for their late-night excursion. He’s holding a cheap pellet gun that probably won’t fire straight even with aiming right. Jaune on his left, and Ren at his back. 

“I’m pretty sure these things are rigged?”, Oscar comments, lining up the rifle in perfect posture (Thank you Ruby Rose), and looking at a red and white target. His finger tenses on the trigger. Three shots. One target. First shot is for adjusting to the terrible condition of the gun. Second and third hitting would get him a prize. 

Did he need the prize? No. It’s all shoddy stuffed animals that probably will fall apart within a week. Does that make him want it less? Absolutely not. He’s getting that stuffed beowolf. 

See. What happened was. The girl’s declared a ‘Girls Night’, so Nora, Ruby, Weiss, and Yang (NRWY ; Team Norway? YRNW ; Team Ironwood, wait didn’t he know that guy?), had abandoned the boys home to go out and do something fun. 

Tai and Qrow opted to take their own Adults Night, and left off to some bar and grill downtown. 

So, not wanting to be left out, Jaune insisted on ‘Boys Night’. Where Ren and Oscar stared at each other for a second before shrugging and going along with it. 

But, the kicker, there was only one nearby festival area in their corner of Mistral. Which had been aptly referred to as just ‘downtown”. So each group was in the same spot. Within his fov, Oscar could see Tai laughing (presumably) loudly at Qrow, whose shoulders shook with his own laughter. 

Then there was the girls. He uses that term loosely, as he knows Ruby doesn’t really associate herself as a ‘gal’. But regardless, there was war in their ranks. An abrupt competition on the basis of “what party could get the most junk from the games scattered throughout the grounds.

They had an edge on the Jaune-Oscar-Ren trio. They had an extra person. And Nora. Who was a MASTER of the trade. 

“Come on, Oscar! I have faith in you!”, Jaune cheers. 

“We will defeat them.”, Ren nods solemnly. The girls snicker, toting their own armfuls of cheap plushies. They’re 12-12 right now. 

Three shots between Oscar Pine and greatness. He takes a deep breath. 

And then he fires. 

.

.

.

Some point after formally telling Ruby about his identity, Oscar stopped caring. Coming out wasn’t a concern of his anymore. 

This is cemented by the fact that it’s actually hell outside. And he’s laying in the dirt of the backyard, in his combat-binder and training sweats, burning alive. 

No one says anything. Because they like Oscar for Oscar and don’t care about stuff like that. He’s a piece of the family here. Even as they all bake into crisp husks during training.

_“Are all children as dramatic as you, or am I just oh-so lucky?”_ , Ozpin jokes, that turns into a soft laugh when Oscar slaps a palm against his forehead. As if he would be able to hit the headmaster himself. 

He suppose he owes Oscar a little bit of a break. It was rather hot out. Mistral temperatures were always somewhat unpredictable. 

The rest of the students were in a similar state of undress. Shedding layers as they trained in the blazing heat.

“You alive over there, kiddo?”, Qrow strode over, a few water bottles tucked in his arm. You know it’s bad when Qrow was also dressed lighter. In a tank top and joggers. Qrow Branwen. Who usually passed out in his huntsmen regalia ninety-percent of the time. 

“No.”, He whines, feebly reaching up for a water and immediately putting it on his neck when Qrow gives it to him. Then dumps over his face. 

“Come on. Another hour and Tai and I’ll call it a day. We got Haven coming up. Gotta put all our effort in.” 

He knows he has to. He just doesn’t _want-_

A fluffy ball of snow lands on his head. Oscar startles up, now sitting and glares over at Weiss. Who was dressed more so than everyone else on the team in a t-shirt and leggings. “Hey! I was getting up.” 

“It would be easier for me to get this training over with if I had my charge.”, Weiss retorts. A black glyph spawning beneath him and forcing him to his feet. “I want to go inside and have a shower, not stand here waiting on you to feel like training.” 

Oscar grabs a second water from Qrow and obediently returns to Weiss’ side, cane lamely drawn at his side. She’s right. Faster finished, faster into the A/C. 

On the way over, Oscar glances at the others all paired off into their own training groups. Taiyang was working with Ren and Nora while Yang assisted. Everyone was dressed down for the heat.

Ren, sans shirt, in grey gym shorts. Nora and Yang in their sports bras, pink and yellow respectively. Their shorts are white and black to match their styles. 

Then, Jaune and Ruby studying under Qrow. Crescent Rose was stabbed into the ground, Ruby leaning against the weapon while she listened to her *uncle (*probably not) talk. Wearing a black sports bra and black joggers. Jaune also ditched his shirt, training in his blue sweatpants.

This is terrible, he concludes. His ears burn as he focuses on the dirt.

All around Oscar was flashes of skin and figures and it’s safe to say he has. Other. Problems. 

_“I understand you are young and this is probably an extreme dilemma for you, but if I can ask for one thing? Please spare me this particular mortification.”_

“Oh God, please shut up.”, Oscar begs to the sky, ignoring Weiss’ look of confusion. It wasn't his fault everyone on his team was distractingly pretty. 

_“Now Oscar, this is a perfectly normal thing for people your age to be going through-”_

“I would literally rather die than to be hearing this right now.” 

_“-However, all of these people were my students once upon a time and while I have had past lives with romantic partners and their desires, none of were quite so young as you-”_

Oscar’s face was surely bright red as he dropped the cane into the sand and hung his face in his hands. 

_“-These are complications of your youth I was aware we would have, so I’ve prepared a small statement to help us during this time in your life-”_

“Weiss, I need you to kill me.”, He reaches out, grabbing her arm and getting on his knees. “Please.”

“-What?”, She stares at him like he’s gone mad. He doesn’t take notice of everyone pausing their training to watch Oscar suffer. 

_“-And while I do have access to many of your former memories, out of respect I have not delved into them too deeply. I am unaware if you’ve had any sort of talks about changes your body may be going through-”_

Oscar slumps on the ground by Weiss’ feet. “Please. I’m begging you.” 

(If anyone asks Oscar why he pleaded to be executed during their training, he deflected, breaking out in a blush and going quiet. But Qrow does pat him on the shoulder and offers the most sincere apology he’s ever heard.)

.

.

.

During one of Oscar’s turns to walk Zwei, he runs into his doctor. She recognizes him instantly and waves him down.

This is what he gets for taking the dog on a nice long walk. 

Dr. Clauda greets him kindly, asking if his aunt and him moved to Mistral. His palm sweats through a lie about taking a tour of Haven Academy. He wipes them on his jeans. 

It’s not a total lie. He talked about it fleetingly at appointments in the past. Too bad the headmaster seemed to be a crooked ne'er do well. 

“Ohho. Looking to be a huntsman? Haven Academy is quite nice. Not as prestigious as Beacon or Atlas, but a wonderful school nonetheless. You have a few years to think about that, don’t you?”

“Mhm. I would have rather gone to Beacon but-” 

“With everything, I just hope Vale is doing alright.”, Dr. Clauda adjusts the shopping bags on her arm. “Well, best be heading home. Don’t want anything to melt. Always nice to see you, Oscar. See you on your next visit.” 

He waves politely as his doctor disappears down the street. Zwei had been kind enough to stay away to avoid extra questioning, walking up and sitting next to Oscar’s boot. 

“Thanks, buddy.”, He bends down, scratching Zwei’s ear. 

The next visit would be his last here in Mistral. After Haven was safe, he’ll be going to Atlas. 

...Hopefully they’ll find someone as kind as Dr. Clauda there. 

.

.

.

  
  


_“...What should I call you then?”, His Aunt’s gentle voice asked._

_Oscar sniffles, wiping the snot from his crying onto his sleeve. He’s… Under something? There’s a small crack of light and the blurry shape of someone outside of it._

_“I dunno.”, He answers, shrinking into the shadows._

_“Well, would you like to come out?”, She beckons, talking as if speaking to a wild animal. “I promise I won’t bite?”_

_“No.”_

_The world pitches. The light twists and grows dark. Swirling into sharp shapes with yellow teeth and coal eyes. Why didn’t he say yes?_

_A man's hand reaches into his hiding spot, grabbing his forearm and pulling. Pulling so hard he can feel the skin on his wrist burn. His bones catch on the wood._

_More scrapes. More bruises. His shirt is thin and white. It won’t protect him. Nothing will. His skin shreds like paper._

_The outside is bright, too bright. His arm hurts. It all hurts._

_“How many times have I told you to stop hiding under there!?”_

Oscar jolts awake, a hand over his mouth, aiming to stop any noise he might have made. He’s relieved to see Qrow and Ruby still sleeping peacefully. Ruby in her normal tiny ball under the covers and Qrow face down on top of his. 

...It had been a long time since any of his usual nightmares. He’d forgotten how much they made his stomach churn and unsettled him. Oscar’s grateful for the Ozpin-Memory dreams taking the forefront. 

Oscar quietly slips out of his bed and makes his way out of the room. He needs water, or something. Anything to stop him from falling back into his dreams. 

Trekking carefully quietly down the stairs, socked feet making nothing but a tiny tap with each step. 

_“Are you alright?”,_ The professor asks, voice gentle like his aunt. 

“Mhm. Just need a drink.”, He whispers back to Oz, padding through the living room and into the kitchen. 

And he startles. Because there’s Jaune, standing over a steaming mug with circles under his eyes. Who jumps in response to Oscar’s sudden presence. 

“Oscar?”, He states softly, as if he’s not quite sure Oscar is actually there. “You okay?” 

“Y-yeah. Just had some trouble sleeping.”, He’s careful to keep his voice low. Don’t want to wake up the whole house because he had a nightmare. 

“Seems to be in the air tonight.”, Jaune gives a bitter chuckle. “I made some tea, wanna grab a cup and get some fresh air with me?”

Oscar follows along wordless, pouring his own mug and dropping less sugar into it than he normally would. It is nighttime after all. The night air is a welcomed chill on his skin. 

“You said it was in the air. Couldn’t sleep either?”, Oscar asks, hopping up to sit down at a picnic table, putting his steaming tea down beside him. 

“Not really. We’ve got a big battle coming up. It’s hard not to get nervous. Especially when we have so much on the line.”, Jaune leans against the table. “I don’t want to lose anyone.” 

“...I’m sorry.”, He thinks about the fall-coloured girl from his memories. Ozpin’s regret and sorrow over her fate was palpable. 

“It’s not your fault, Oscar. It’s not anyone’s fault.”, Jaune reassures, like he’s trying to convince himself. He takes a long sip of his tea. “I just… Really miss her. I know I have Ren and Nora, and I love them but...” 

“Of course. You loved her. You can grieve.”, The memories start blurring between Oz and himself at times like this. Like he’s both people at once.

“I know. It’s a little overwhelming sometimes.”, Jaune gives him a watery smile, before sniffling and rubbing a sleeve over his eyes. 

A moment of silence falls over them. 

“What about you? What’s got you up at this hour?”, The blond is more composed now, stitched back together. 

“Oh.. Bad dream. Which is super childish I know-” 

“It’s not. I get them.” 

“Yeah. Like I said.” 

“Ha ha. When did you get so funny.”, Jaune gives him a little shove. “Seriously, you can talk to me, Oscar. I want to be someone who can help you.” 

“You’ve helped me a lot.”

“And there’s no limit on it.”

“It’s really not a big deal. I haven’t been through the things you guys have.”, He was shoved in a jail for a night? Then saved by a cool girl who could summon giant beasts? 

“It’s not a competition. Come on, you listened to me. Give me the chance to listen to you.” 

Oscar hesitates for a second, then looks at his mug, back to Jaune, and then settling on his lap. “My parents used to beat the shit out of me.”, He says, with a laugh and smile that holds no humor. “Sometimes I dream about it. Being helpless.”

_“Oscar…”,_ Oz calls out. 

Jaune startles, choking on his tea and coughing it up into his hand. “Oscar! That’s a huge deal!”

“Not really? I’ve gotten worse injuries during training. I mean, he broke my arm once but-” 

“-That’s different. That’s because you want to train with us, because you chose to fight. Oscar, that’s horrible.”, Suddenly Jaune is in front of him, a hand on each of his shoulders. “You shouldn’t have had to go through that. You didn’t deserve it.” 

“...I know that now.”, He puts a hand on Jaune’s wrist. “My aunt kinda pounded that idea out of me with aggressive love and affection.” 

“Well good. You needed someone to take care of you and support you.”, He sighs, then plops himself down next to Oscar. “And we’re all here for you. All of us. You know we’d never hurt you.” 

“Dude, you shield-bashed me during sparing yesterday.”, Oscar jokes, before sobering. “...I know you guys wouldn’t. I trust you.” 

The two share a soft smile. 

“Well how about I go put these mugs in the sink and we try to get some sleep before we’re dead on arrival for training tomorrow.” 

“Yeah. Got to be in top shape for this whole Haven thing.”, He jumps off the table, rolling his shoulders and letting the newfound tiredness fall over him. “I’m kind of nervous.” 

“You’re as good a huntsman as any of us, Oscar. I’m sort of jealous, actually. Took me a year to get where you are in a month.” 

“Wizard.” 

“Fair enough.”, Jaune snorts, walking towards the kitchen back door. “No matter what, we’ve got your back. G’night, Oscar.” 

“Night, Jaune.”

.

Oscar almost dies at Haven. 

Hazel’s strength crushes his ribcage and makes the world go dark. Makes all the air in his lungs rush out and replace it with red. 

Jaune saves him, out of pure desperation, unlocks his semblance and helps Oscar’s aura heal his wounds. The feeling of familiar warmth blanketing him into safety. Jaune’s great. Supportive, helpful, and didn’t let him die on his first battlefield. 

He knows nothing about the fight until he wakes up a full week later in bed, sore as all hell. The last thing he remembers is Hazel’s shout, Ozpin’s worried fretting in the back of his mind, and the shocking numbness of going under.

...And he’s taking it shockingly well. You’d think he’d feel more traumatized, or burdened at his own mortality, but he isn’t. It’s literally fine.

_“I am growing very worried for your sanity, young man.”_ , Ozpin sighs, trying to encourage Oscar to lay back down. Ruby had come and gone in a flurry of movement. Her invitation for reading-night is an enticing reason to get up.

He reaches out for his scroll. It’s fully charged. Thank God. He opens his SMS app and taps Jaune’s contact. (The profile image he chose was from a movie night, some sappy b-tier romance flick. The focus on Jaune, his face teary and invested as the two protagonists profess their undying love. The rest of the team was in the background. Ren, looking mildly interested with Nora in his lap eating all of the popcorn. Ruby was half-asleep next to Qrow, who was entirely passed out.)

_“You could still use some rest, Oscar.”_ , What a nag. “ _That’s rude.”_

“I had a cup of coffee, I can’t go back to sleep. And I need a shower.”, He responds, typing out a text to Jaune. Plus, if he’s going to meet Ruby’s last teammate, he doesn’t want to smell like he’s been sleeping for a week.

[8:34 pm] Oscar Pine: hey jaune ?? 

[8:34 pm] Jaune Arc: OSCAR 

[8:34 pm] Jaune Arc: YOURE UP!!!

[8:34 pm] Jaune Arc: How are you feeling??? 

[8:35 pm] Oscar Pine: okay. kinda eugh. can you maybe help me walk to the shower ?

[8:38 pm] Jaune Arc: Yeah! Of course! Sorry Qrow just came and asked me to help you also. 

[8:38 pm] Jaune Arc: Be right up. 

[8:39 pm] Oscar Pine: thanks dude

Jaune arrives a couple minutes later, clad in his night clothes, and smiles at the sight of Oscar awake. 

“Ready to get cleaned up?”, Jaune strides to Oscar and settles himself on the foot of the bed. 

“For sure.”

What Oscar expects is to be helped, arm over shoulder, into the bathroom. 

What he gets is Jaune carrying him bridal-style down the hall and into their bathroom. Where the shower is already running hot and a pair of PJ’s (must have taken them out of the laundry) on the counter by the sink. 

His face is burning for the second time as Jaune effortlessly picks him up, walks the short distance to the shower room, and places him down on the edge of the bath. 

“Okay, I’ll be right out here. Call out if you need help, okay? Don’t strain yourself. You took a big hit.”, God, Jaune is so nice. 

“Will do.”, Oscar puts his hand under the hot water, trying to quell some of his dizziness. “But if you hear a loud thud, maybe come check.”, He jokes. 

Jaune laughs as he leaves the bathroom, leaving Oscar to shower in peace. A bath probably would have been safer but eh. 

And luckily, he doesn’t pass out or fall down. He even manages to get dressed on his own before calling Jaune in to help him downstairs for Ruby and Blake’s reading time. (He even makes it down the stairs without falling!)

Ruby jumps up from her work station at the sight of him, ushering him towards the couch with Nora-levels of enthusiasm. 

“Oscar, this is Blake!”, Ruby gestures wide to introduce her teammate. “Blake, this is Oscar!” 

“Nice to meet you, Oscar.”, Blake responds, a kind expression on her face as his social anxiety acts up. 

“N-nice to meet you, Blake.”, He manages, carefully sitting down on their couch. “Ruby’s told me a lot about you.” 

“Likewise.”, Her voice is nice. “She also said you took quite a hit at Haven. You’ve been resting for a while now. Are you feeling okay?” 

“Y-yeah. Happy to be out of bed.”

“Okay, this is nice.”, Ruby smiles, like some sort of plot had come together perfectly in her mind. “Who wants to do some reading while I make some fingers?” 

“I can go first?”, He offers, reaching forward to grab a copy of a very thick heavy book from the table. He assumes this is the aforementioned reading material. 

“I’ll go after.”, Blake gets her own copy, opening it to the table of contents. 

The rest of the evening falls into a sweet rhythm of words and fantasies. He’s warm and content listening to the sounds of tales being woven. 

Though, he doesn’t make it very far into the last story before nodding out on the couch. Yet he wakes up in their room. The smell of floral tea and rose petals cling to his clothes. 

His chest is warm, warm in a way that reminds him so painfully of his aunt. But it's so encompassing now. 

Oscar feels loved. Safe, and happy here with his family. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *makes a bunch of sweet moments between characters just to make V6 hurt more* 
> 
> This is the last CH of Pine's until I finish V6 in Branwen's so it'll be a bit before I see you guys back on this one. Also if you noticed... There's more CH's than originally planned on this fic because I CAN NOT IGNORE V8 for Oscar. 
> 
> See you in the next one < 3


End file.
